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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| May 5, 2005 |
From the Seas of the World – For a Peaceful World |
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| Peace Boat staff Hazuki Yasuhara presenting at an NGO session at the UN during a recent NPT conference |
A Proposal to NPT Conference from Peace Boat Global University Students
We are Japanese students and Korean scholarship recipients participating in Peace Boat’s 48th Voyage Global University program, traveling around the world. After departing Japan, we have traveled to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and reached the Pacific at last. We have met many people during our voyage. In each country, we realized that the world is made up of individual people and the families they create. We also met many NGO activists from all over the world and some of them joined us on board as guest educators. Each of them plays an active role in different areas and under different circumstances. However, they all share a common objective – that all human beings achieve and protect the right to live with security, justice and dignity. From all the experience and what we have learnt through the voyage, we propose the following steps in order to facilitate and achieve nuclear disarmament. |
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Increase the awareness and knowledge of damage caused by nuclear weapons
French nuclear testing brought serious damage upon citizens of Tahiti, where we visited recently. There is a high occurrence of cancer among habitants. Yet the citizens of France are not aware of this kind. It is considered as taboo to talk about the damage of nuclear tests in Tahiti because the French government does not acknowledge the damages of nuclear testing. With the current situation like this, it is impossible to see any ways to nuclear disarmament. As a way to change the current situation, Tahitian youth organizations started a movement to appeal against the current situation to the society and the damage caused by nuclear testing.
We also realized that the awareness of the damage caused by nuclear weapons is decreasing in Japan, which is the only country in the world with the experience of atomic attack. There are less and less statements written on the damage and sufferings caused by atomic bombs in the history textbooks. With the situation where many citizens are ignorant on the damages of nuclear weapons upon human being and the environment, it becomes extremely difficult to abolish nuclear weapons. Thus we propose the following two actions to be taken in order to address these issues. |
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Enhance education about the effects of nuclear weapons on a global scale.
Currently, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is described in the textbooks in Japan, the U.S., and Korea, however, they are written from different points of view. In Japanese textbooks, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is described as devastating damage to Japan, while in Korean textbooks, it is considered to have freed Korea from Japanese colonization. As for textbooks in the U.S., the event is considered as inevitable to end the war. Not only the differences in views, but also the amount of space devoted for the description and explanation on the event differ greatly among these three countries.
We believe it is necessary that NGOs and the United Nations work together to create a universal textbook educating about the damage and suffering caused by nuclear weapons. It is crucial to enhance the education in a prompt manner as Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) are aging as we speak. By doing so, we will be able to pass down the facts of nuclear damage and the knowledge on this issue to the next generation. Several NGOs and scholars in Japan, Korea and China worked together to create a common history textbook as teaching material, which is going to be published this year. It is necessary to work together on the facts of the damage caused by nuclear weapons in the same manner as this effort. |
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Disclosure and sharing of information
Information on the damage caused by development of new nuclear weapons and nuclear testing has not been disclosed. It is necessary that the United Nations and NGOs conduct investigations together to reveal the actual impact and damages caused by nuclear weapons on countries, regions, and people who suffer directly from the continuous activities to develop nuclear weapons. The involvement of the people from the victimized areas in the process of investigation is necessary. It is also important to share the information among victimized countries and regions and also with the citizens of nuclear weapon states. There are various ways to realize this, for example, by utilizing media such as Internet and documentaries to be used as educational material at schools, etc. An organization of Tahitian youth uses these means in their activities.
Hibakusha people are living in many different countries all over the world having their organizations and groups to support each other. These Hibakusha groups and peace and disarmament NGOs in the world should work together through exchanging information and denouncing the nuclear weapons by bringing the voices of Hibakusha to be heard widely and to raise awareness among citizens about nuclear weapons. |
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Reinforce the ability to inspect
Among the 13 steps of the agreement from the 2000 NPT Review Conference, there is one step on the development of verification capability. In the current inspection mechanism, there are differences on the standard for nuclear states and non-nuclear states, a kind of discrimination. Thus it is necessary to improve and strengthen the mechanism and system of nuclear inspection by CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) and FMCT (Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty). The inspections on nuclear weapon stats are currently on a volunteer basis. However, we believe that it is necessary to make the inspections obligatory. Also it is necessary to make the current inspection system more powerful and fair for non-nuclear weapon countries. It is necessary to ban nuclear development in secrecy and any development of substances that are directly connected to the nuclear weapons. IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the organization that conducts such inspections, should consist of members from nuclear weapon states, non-nuclear weapon states and engineers from NGOs to enable fair and credible inspections. We believe that the ability to inspect will be reinforced by setting up such system.
Isn’t the common wish of humankind that we do not repeat the damage and suffering of nuclear weapons and to live peacefully? Building a world where every person can live with peace is what we should prioritize over anything else. This wish must be the driving force to have such an organization like the United Nations that connects countries in the world. Whether we can make a world where the countries respect each other and people respect each other without nuclear weapons will determine the future of human kind. The beautiful ocean and nature that we see during the voyage should never be harmed. In order to pass the good earth onto our children and grand children, we believe that we need to give priority to protect people and the environment that we live in, rather than to protect our countries with nuclear weapons. |
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